Al Franken receives endorsement in U.S. Senate race in Minnesota

Star Tribune (Minneapolis)

ROCHESTER, Minn. — U.S. Senate candidate Al Franken took the Democratic-Farmer-Labor nomination by acclamation Saturday, after a day of questions, speeches and fretting by some activists over whether the controversial satirist can wage a focused campaign to unseat Minnesota Republican U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman.

After being publicly and privately urged to do so, Franken tackled the issue of his sometimes sexually explicit humor head on, with the outright apology many waited for.

“It kills me that things I said and wrote sent a message ... that they can’t count on me to be a champion for women, for all Minnesotans. I’m sorry for that. Because that’s not who I am.”

Franken deflected attention to his prospective general election opponent, Coleman, saying that “there are some people in Washington who could afford to feel a little less comfortable.”

Drawing on his strength as an acerbic critic of Republicans, Franken said that he would “stand up to Norm Coleman in a way he’s never been stood up to before. Because that’s what I’ve done and that’s what I’m good at.”

In the end, DFLers agreed with him and were preparing to endorse him on the first ballot when Franken’s rival, Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer withdrew and asked the convention to endorse Franken by acclamation.